The role of auditory cortex in segregating sounds in individuals with normal hearing and age-related hearing loss

在嘈杂的房间里听人说话是与年龄相关的听力损失的常见问题。超过50%的60岁以上的人患有不同程度的听力损失，虽然助听器和人工耳蜗都可以改善听力，但在嘈杂的环境中，听力仍然普遍存在问题。能够在其他令人分心的声音存在的情况下听一种声音，通常被称为“鸡尾酒会问题”，这是我们识别语音和欣赏音乐的基本能力。这项拟议的研究项目将研究大脑如何解决这个问题，并创建一个模型系统来研究年龄相关性听力损失后大脑的哪些变化，这些变化会使人在嘈杂的房间里更难听到某人的声音。

Listening to someone speak in a noisy room is a common problem associated with age-related hearing loss. More than 50% of people over the age of sixty suffer from some degree of hearing loss, and while both hearing aids and cochlear implants can improve hearing, in a noisy environment, hearing is still generally problematic. Being able to listen to one sound in the presence of other distracting sounds, commonly referred to as "the cocktail party problem", is fundamental to our ability to recognize speech and appreciate music. The proposed research project will investigate how the brain solves this problem, and create a model system to study what changes in the brain after age-related hearing loss, that makes it more difficult to hear someone's voice in a noisy room.